Ohio Farm Tours
- Thread starter Buckhunter10
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Buckhunter10
5 year old buck +
Why do we love Nitroboost for feeding wildlife to prepping poor ground? Cause it is absolutely amazing and fixing nitrogen, fighting compaction, stimulating soil biology and let’s face it - making dirt look like soil!
It’s all about those roots!!
It’s all about those roots!!
TreeDaddy
5 year old buck +
Buckhunter10
5 year old buck +
Isn’t that something!! That is a field use to have almost no worms. I conventionally tilled the heck out of it. Lbs of dap and urea.
When switched over - I have been just amazed to count the number of worms. Sometimes 15-25 in a shovel full. Not to mention - it seems to be a preferred field by deer. Someday I’ll pull tissue samples here again and compare to others or run brix to see what’s happening at plant level.
Thanks for following good sir. Hoping you and the family are having a great start to 2025.
Albert
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Buckhunter10
5 year old buck +
Shipping next week!!
Thanks for all pre orders!
All new seed orders shipping next week!
Annual clover mix - ideal for those with very short growing seasons but they want to get something in before planting their fall Carbon Load or other fall crop. Can be frost seeded into over browsed fields as well. I am using this on a few new fields that have been browsed heavy. This will add to the CL green up before I drill in Nitroboost!
Premium clover+ - a great blend of clovers and chicory - designed to help outcompete weeds. Great for logging roads, orchards, plots, etc. can be frost seeded or traditionally planted. I am using this over the top of my Clover/oats/chicory plots to fill in any gaps.
Brassicas mix - a fantastic mix of forage and tubers producers. Whether you are adding to a mix, over-seeding a bean field or anything in between this is a great mix. Some will love to mix this with the annual clover blend for a fall plot!
Buckhunter10
5 year old buck +
After a horrible drought - our summer planting of Nitroboost still provided cover, food, and helped to cycle plenty of nutrients for our fall planting! Checkout the biomass!
Buckhunter10
5 year old buck +
In my opinions - one of the hardest things to do as a land manager is accurately assess your deer population, especially in large timbered areas. I hear so often “we don’t have that many deer”.
Just the fact that you cannot see a long ways in large timber tracts, often limits the number of “sighted” deer on the landscape. However, this does not mean they are not there - we also don’t want to just assume the deer densities are adequate without some type of quantifiable attempt.
I know we have a high dpsm on the farm. However- we don’t often get pictures of 7+ deer at a time.
We do get a lot of pictures simultaneously and we measure browse both on woody regen and food plots.
When you combine all of this together - it adds up for some really good assessment of the local deer density and allows us to put togyuer a plan for cutting timber, planting food plots and harvesting does.
Make/plant more food, shoot more does or often times - do both!
Just the fact that you cannot see a long ways in large timber tracts, often limits the number of “sighted” deer on the landscape. However, this does not mean they are not there - we also don’t want to just assume the deer densities are adequate without some type of quantifiable attempt.
I know we have a high dpsm on the farm. However- we don’t often get pictures of 7+ deer at a time.
We do get a lot of pictures simultaneously and we measure browse both on woody regen and food plots.
When you combine all of this together - it adds up for some really good assessment of the local deer density and allows us to put togyuer a plan for cutting timber, planting food plots and harvesting does.
Make/plant more food, shoot more does or often times - do both!
Buckhunter10
5 year old buck +
New this year is bulk pricing discounts. This is great for those who want to add more acres of NItroBoost or Carbon Load.
Also this is a great option for those who don’t have a dealer near them and want to buy in bulk with their family, friends, neighbors, etc.
We are offering this on The Vitalize Fish Fertilizer+humics as well!
Also this is a great option for those who don’t have a dealer near them and want to buy in bulk with their family, friends, neighbors, etc.
We are offering this on The Vitalize Fish Fertilizer+humics as well!
Buckhunter10
5 year old buck +
We do have a lot of guys buying now but I’ll have seed for whenever folks need it. We ship same day or next day - so there isn’t a rush.
Thanks for asking and following the thread!
Buckhunter10
5 year old buck +
Soil sampling
I love to soil sample and keeping it simple will give you great, consistent result!
Trying to recommend soil amendments without consistent soil sampling procedures - leads to us chasing our tails.
1. Use @wardlabs or other reputable labs - so you get all the needed metrics (we sell Ward’s on our website).
2. Use a soil probe - as you see I mark mine at 6inch depth.
3. Take same time of year
4. Notice @onxhunt maps on my phone - I mark my gps coordinates so I know that I am accurate in my sampling.
This leads to better quality, and consistency in the samples. Which will lead to better gardens, food plots, farms, etc.
I love to soil sample and keeping it simple will give you great, consistent result!
Trying to recommend soil amendments without consistent soil sampling procedures - leads to us chasing our tails.
1. Use @wardlabs or other reputable labs - so you get all the needed metrics (we sell Ward’s on our website).
2. Use a soil probe - as you see I mark mine at 6inch depth.
3. Take same time of year
4. Notice @onxhunt maps on my phone - I mark my gps coordinates so I know that I am accurate in my sampling.
This leads to better quality, and consistency in the samples. Which will lead to better gardens, food plots, farms, etc.
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Badgers80
A good 3 year old buck
Do you take the full soil amount up to your 6” mark on the probe from the bottom to the mark? Obviously there’s 6” of difference in the soil, so curious if that is considered or not.
Buckhunter10
5 year old buck +
So I take from the bottom to the line.
I take 3-4 probes around each GPS coordinate.
Neil Kinsey suggests taking 6 and 3/4inch as you then get into some of the anarobic zone of the soil. I have been happy with keeping it right at 6 inches.
You are correct about the difference in soil and that is why it is critical to sample with consistency. Also, why understanding fertility and how it moves in the soil can save a grower a ton of money! There was a farmer in IL who took a sample like this, and then segmented it by 1-inch segments. He sent it in and found that the P he has broadcasted for the last 15 years was all in the top 1- 2 inches of soil, not being taken up by the plant. He did not use cover crops and was no-till, so the P had no way to move, therefore led to nutrient stratification.
To go back to your point, the key is not to see the difference, but to ensure we are getting the same amount of each sample from each field of each section of soil, each year. This is VERY hard to do with a shovel, and that is why you will see guys having results all over the place from year to year - IMO.
I hope this help!! Thank you for asking a question an following along! I appreciate it.
Albert
Buckhunter10
5 year old buck +
I have tracked OM but not that closely. I will say, I have seen positive trends but nothing that excites me as much as the tangible soil improvement via visual observations (as seen above), and the PLFA/Biological testing I have done on these fields.
Stonehenge and "Big" are two fields I have spoken about a lot—they have been in the 1-2 system for a long time! According to WARD labs, the total living microbe biomass is high when it reaches 4500. Mine are over 5400 on both. That is in nanograms/gram. Both are high in rating in the function group diversity, which allows for better carbon storage, nutrient cycling, aggregation, etc. We don't want to be single-faceted.
I have a new field that is maybe 500 yards from these two - I tested PFLA on this, and despite it being in wood for the last 40+ years, its microbial biomass was around 3800. So although not bad, not near the rate of the fields that have been in the 1-2 system.
Now, another metric—I like it but am not sold on it being the be-all and end-all—is C02 respiration. I believe Ward considers over 120 C02 as high. I took my soil test in SE Ohio in March. This is not super active growing time, yet my C02 was over 500 in Stone and over 800 on another field I tested. I could pull more, but my files are not as organized as they ought to be.
So, all in all, I've been tickled to death with the results. I believe it will only get better, especially as I work to reduce doe numbers so I can increase some biomass on my fields per annum. That is my largest challenge—we have a lot of food walk off in a deer's rumen.
I hope this helps! Thank you for reading and following along.
Badgers80
A good 3 year old buck
That definitely helps! Thank you.
I did an initial sample in 2023 on a new food plot with a probe but think I went a little deeper than 6” which isn’t what you want per your help. I’ll likely do another sample of the plot this year and see how the soil has changed after a couple amendments that I have done. Thanks for all the info on this!
Buckhunter10
5 year old buck +
Yes I’d recommend a probe for sure. It helps with consistency a lot.
Buckhunter10
5 year old buck +
Buckhunter10
5 year old buck +
I am getting the itch!
Buckhunter10
5 year old buck +
Here is your reminder to put up exclusion fences - and put them up early.
I am so excited to drill in Nitroboost and this particular field turned out fantastic last year (despite the heavy browse). However, how much better could/would it be without browse impacting it?
Always be observing, learning, adjusting!
Have a wonderful weekend all!
I am so excited to drill in Nitroboost and this particular field turned out fantastic last year (despite the heavy browse). However, how much better could/would it be without browse impacting it?
Always be observing, learning, adjusting!
Have a wonderful weekend all!
